Noble Hearts 03 - The Courageous Heart (16 page)

“Yes, your majesty.” The soldier looked warily at Aubrey before untying her.

“What’s going on?” Aubrey demanded, unable to hide her panic.

“You’re to be the king’s guest at the Tower,” Ethan told her, then quickly added. “Go quietly. They won’t hurt you and you’ll be in a far better position to help Crispin and Jack if you do.”

“I know that!” she snapped in reply. When the guard was finished with her ropes she tilted her chin up and spun to march out of the room with him. To Ethan’s immense relief, Joanna rushed after her.

“Well this has been a far more entertaining diversion than we could have arranged for ourselves,” Richard said, returning to his royal plural. “Sir Ethan, it is indeed a pleasure to
have you by our side again
.
If there is anything
we
can do for you, anything at all, just ask
.
Your service in the Holy Land has earned you the gratitude of a king.
”

“
Thank you, my liege
.”
He bowed low. “If I think of anything I’ll let you know.”

“Good.” Richard nodded. Now where is Sir William of Colchester? We have business to discuss with him.”

The wall of monarchy thumped down between Ethan and the king.
H
e bowed and backed off of the platform, blending into the assembly of nobles. He couldn’t get away with walking out entirely, not until the king was finished with his audience, but at least he wasn’t the center of attention anymore. And like it or not, he had done what he’d come to do.

When he straightened and searched for a place to stand out of the way his eyes met Matlock’s. Hatred poured off of the man in waves. His hand twitched towards his empty sword belt
. He hadn’t exactly been friends with Matlock at their last meeting, but now they were definitely enemies. Judging by the
calculation
in Pennington’s eyes his number of enemies had just doubled.

Chapter
Nine

“My lady, I’m right behind you!” Joanna called from the White Tower’s stairs as the
soldier
marched
Aubrey
across the lawn.

“Joanna!” Aubrey twisted to search for her in spite of the
soldier’s
tough grip
. She lit up in relief as Joanna ran down the stairs and across the yard to her. “Oh, Joanna!”

Joanna threw her arms around her mistress, her friend, and hugged her in spite of the
soldier
holding her
. The nobles loitering nearby stopped to watch the drama unfolding.

“I’ve been so worried about you!” Aubrey went on, panting. “How is Wulfric? Is he safe? And Madeline and Meg? Where are they?”

“Move along, my lady,” the
soldier
ordered her. He gave her arm a half-hearted tug and glanced to the White Tower, full of uncertainty. “The king wants you back in your cell.”

“My maid will come with me,” Aubrey told him
in no uncertain terms
. When the
soldier
hesitated she said, “You heard the king. I am his guest, not a prisoner.”

The
soldier
shuffled and squirmed. “Alright. But I’m not leaving the two of you alone.”

“Of course not,” Aubrey drawled.

Joanna followed as the
soldier
escorted Aubrey through the crowd to one of the Tower’s out-buildings. She searched for David. He was exactly where she’d left him, with a small band of his friends. He did a double-take when he saw her rushing along behind Aubrey and the
soldier
. There was nothing she could do to explain
what
had just happened. The best she could manage was to raise her hands and tell him to stay where he was.

She stepped into the house where the guard took Aubrey. A handful of soldiers sitting around a table in the main room watched as they passed through and headed up a narrow staircase.
Aubrey’s soldier escorted her
down a hallway lined with locked doors to a small room at the end. He let her go when Joanna was in the room
with her
then moved to stand blocking the door, arms crossed.

“Where is my son?” Aubrey grabbed her arms and held her close.

“We’re staying at an inn,” Joanna told her. She was acutely aware of the
soldier
watching them and didn’t know how much to say. “Ethan took us there.”

“Ethan? What?” Aubrey balked.

She lowered her voice until she thought the soldier wouldn’t hear her.
“He lives there. He was at the Tower
the other day
and helped us escape.” There was no
way
to explain the details
with the soldier guarding them
.

“Ethan,” Aubrey repeated.
“Is that why he was here today?” Joanna could only give her a reluctant nod. Aubrey
stepped away and held a hand to
her
stomach. “Oh this is bad. Very, very bad.
Where has he been
all these years
? And why would he show up now?
Does he have something to do with our imprisonment
?
”
She answered her own question with a growled, “I just bet he does!”

“
I don’t think he does
, my lady.
He works at the inn.
”

“Works? Ethan?”
Aubrey snorted.

Joanna shook her head
.
“
My lady, there’s no time for that.
I spoke with Crispin and Jack earlier,”
she
changed the uncomfortable subject
.

“You did?” Aubrey’s eyes filled with hope.

Joanna nodded, trying to ignore the
soldier
as Aubrey was. “I asked them what I should do. They told me to send for Simon McFarland.”

“Yes, Simon.” Aubrey began to pace. “
It couldn’t hurt.
Did they say
anything more about what is happening?” she asked. “What was that business about letters?”

“They
don’t know, my lady
, and neither do I
. It sounded like Matlock think
s
he
has
letters that prove Crispin and Jack are traitors.”
She darted a glance to the soldier. He seemed bored.

“
That’s
ridiculous
.
”
Aubrey’s
pacing grew wider, more frantic. She ate up the length of the floor with each pass. “Where is Prince John? Why wasn’t he at the audience?”

“He’s gone, my lady. He fled to Normandy yesterday.”

Aubrey stopped. The hand on her stomach moved to her heart. “Dear God, please don’t tell me the only person we
know on the outside
is Ethan!”

Joanna’s
heart flipped and sank.
They were back to the subject she couldn’t seem to get away from.
“
He says he wants to help, but y
ou can’t rely on him
, my lady
. You can’t
ever
rely on him.”

“Don’t I know it.” Aubrey sighed and returned to pacing. “There has to be something we can do.” She pressed a hand to her forehead.

“If you’re King Richard’s guest then maybe they’ll let me stay here with you. We can-”

“No!” Aubrey interrupted her, eyes wide. “No, you have to go back to that inn. I need you to keep Wulfric safe. And Madeline too. And tell her not to go anywhere that
her father
might see her. Did you see how furious
Matlock
looked?”

“I did.”
She clutched Aubrey’s arm and walked her away from the soldier in the door to the far corner of the room. “But I’m sure the innkeepers,
a man named David and his wife Rebecca, can look after them. They’re in good hands.” And the farther she could stay away from Ethan the
better off
she would be.

“No, y
ou need to stay close to them
,” Aubrey
insisted. “
You saw what I just saw. I had no idea Ethan was so close to the king. He may be our last resort.
I need you to do whatever it takes to convince
him
to speak to the king on our behalf.” She followed her statement with a grunt of disgust.

Joanna
knew how she felt
.
“My lady,
Ethan
can’t be trusted. He’s proved that before.
”

“That’s exactly why you have to stay
on
him
about it
.” Aubrey caught her
arm
. “He hates Crispin and Jack.
If he
gets it in his thick head to speak against us
-
”

“
It’s not Ethan
you should worry about, my lady,” Joanna interrupted.
“
That man Pennington, the way he looked at you….
”

Aubrey replied with an ironic laugh, glancing to the guard. “
I can handle Pennington
.
If he tries anything funny he’ll get a rude surprise.
Right now the most important thing is to do whatever it takes to see that Crispin and Jack are cleared of this ridiculous accusation of treason.”

“How?”

Aubrey opened her mouth but nothing came out. She pressed her lips closed and let go of Joanna’s arm. “I don’t know.
” She s
ighed and rubbed her forehead.

Joanna
hugged her friend
. “Don’t give up hope, my lady.” She took a deep breath, pushing away the dread that filled her
as she stepped back
. “I’ll go back to the inn. I’ll … I’ll talk to Ethan, see if I can convince him to speak
on Crispin and Jack’s behalf
.”

Aubrey leaned forward and hugged her. Joanna didn’t want her to let go.
She didn’t want to do anything. She just wanted to go home.

“I knew I could count on you, Joanna. If anyone can convince Ethan to help
us
it’s you.”

Joanna swallowed the truth behind her friend’s words and stood. “I’ll do my best.”

“I know you will. Now go.” She gestured for Joanna to
leave
with a weak smile. “And give Wulfric a hug for me.”

“I will, my lady.”

The guard stepped aside as Joanna headed for the door. He followed her into the hall, shutting and locking the door behind her. Joanna bit her lip as the lock clicked. Aubrey was no more a guest in the Tower than Crispin and Jack were.

Roderick hung back in the shadowed stairwell at the corner of the king’s audience room
, watching and waiting
. He didn’t speak whatever gibberish the king favored, but he didn’t need to. It was clear that Ethan had tweaked Matlock’s nose and swiped Pennington’s prize right out from under him. He grinned in spite of the
pain of
bruises Ethan had given him the other day.
Personal feelings aside, h
e had to hand it to his old master, he had style.

When
the king
was finished with whatever nonsense he was spouting at his subjects he gathered his
retinue
and left the dais. Before he
paraded out of the room
he sought out Ethan. Roderick may not have been able to understand the words that were said but he knew an order when he saw one. Ethan fell in with the pack of hungry nobles following the king
, doing a poor job of hiding his resentment
.

As soon as they were out of the room, the remaining nobles tripping over themselves to follow,
Roderick emerged from the shadows just enough to catch Pennington’s eye. The man knew he was there, had ordered him to stand in watch. There weren’t many men Roderick was willing to take orders from, but Pennington
was his kind of boss
.
He was powerful, ruthless, and l
et Roderick kill the men who crossed him in the most creative ways possible. They made the perfect team.

Pennington stepped down from the dais, gesturing for Matlock to follow him to
the
quiet
side
of the room. That
side
just so happened to be within earshot of where Roderick stood.

“I will have his hide!” Matlock fumed. “Who does
Ethan of Windale
think he is? He’s not fit to clean my boots.”

“What letters?” Pennington seethed. His fist was clenched so tightly around his chess piece that Roderick expected it to crack to dust.

“We can have some made up,” Matlock grumbled, expression flickering between tough and sheepish.

“My dear
Matlock
,” Pennington’s tone switched to dangerous calm. “Having treasonous letters forged is not something one can do overnight
or without grave risk
.”

“You heard the king. We have a month.”

Matlock held his ground with Pennington glaring knives at him.

“You
told me
you would stand against the earl and his friend, assured me no one would speak against you. You
failed to menti
on that your fallen friend was
chummy
with
King Richard,
” Pennington
grumbled
. He crossed his arms and looked down at Matlock even though the man was inches taller.

“How was I to know he would show up at court when he hasn’t been seen for years?” Matlock defended himself.

“
Does your stupidity know no bounds? This
could
cause problems.”

“Cause problems?” Matlock barked an incredulous laugh. “
For you maybe.
He knows where my daughter is.
He’ll lead me straight
to
her
, even if I have to hold a knife to his throat
.
”

“A problem for me is a problem for both of us.”
Pennington sneered. “
I brought you here because few at court know you, because you’d be able to
get close to Richard without
anybody noticing
. If you keep harping on about your daughter
you won’t be of any
use to me
.”

Roderick lit up, licking his lips. If
Pennington decided to do away with Matlock
, he would
personally
find a way to get rid of the bastard slowly.